Clicking
by LouiseSyes
Summary: Irina and Gwin pairing story. We need more of these. This one is about Irina realizing her feelings for Gwin, but her stubbornness won't allow her to be nice. Please glance at it, even if my summary is simple and dumb.
1. Bliss

_This is my very first fanfic based on a game. I got XCX for Christmas, and I just finished the main story. Still playing the heck out of it, though._

 _Irina and Gwin are my favorites, so I decided to add to the fandom. For now this is just a drabble, but I want to make it something more._

* * *

 **Clicking**

Bliss

There didn't have to be an intergalactic war. The Earth didn't have to be incinerated. Life could have continued as normal for Irina, and she still would have felt lost. Her brother's passing was only the cherry on top, because with him, the last of her true self seemed to bury under a thick layers of anguish, bitterness, and rage. She was an empty husk of a woman since the moment she realized her last words to her dear sibling were the very last. In all honesty, she couldn't bank on living too much longer, not with her state of mind anyways. Not that she was prone to cutting or jumping from buildings; she knew herself to charge into battle at the expense of herself, even if to protect her comrades.

Only a few moments on Mira were blissful, and the situation she stood in was one of them. Her team traveled to Noctilum for a mission—an easy one. They just finished when they all noticed night was near. It was only four of them, so she told her comrades to head on back to New LA while she took an extra side mission to collect data from a data probe. She saw the mission on the board in the Administrative District just before they left, and it was too easy and convenient way to grab a few more credits.

Half of the team left, which settled her with the ever-so-clingy Gwin following her. He always refused to leave her side outside of the city unless it was an absolute emergency. So Irina walked towards the fn site closest to them with the _idiot_ trailing behind. This was not the blissful moment, not yet. She was silent. He knew better than to start up conversation until a mission was over, no matter the importance of their job.

Irina stepped up to the streak of light known as a data probe. She pulled out her com device and began working. Her eyes focused on the screen intently as she pressed a few touch buttons and waited for it to finish.

"Ah!" Gwin's voice rang out fearfully.

The dirty blonde's eyes widened, and her head whipped back just in time to see Gwin charging her. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. His arms passed either side of her, his torso ramming into hers. She was instantly held close and sheltered as much as he could possibly wrap around her. Her device fell to the grassy land below. In that moment she was engulfed with his scent, warmth, and strong hold. For such a puppy-eyed person, Gwin was sturdy, and he could have easily knocked her over if he wanted (his longsword had a enough weight on its own).

A few seconds passed, and Irina spoke angrily as she wriggled, "what the hell are you doing?!"

He loosened his grip and looked up, "oh…I uh…thought it was something dangerous…"

She lifted her face from his chest and followed his stare to see billions of tiny glowing particles all around them. She flinched when she saw them, but she soon relaxed as they were touching her but not doing any harm. She sighed, "I heard that Noctilum has an energy mist sometimes…like some sort of weather. It's fine." She lowered her eyes and cut them to her companion, who she expected to be staring at the mist, but he wasn't.

Gwin's eyes focused on hers, and he bit his lip slowly. He clammed up and hesitantly let her go and stepped back. He then frowned with a furrowed brow and lowered his eyes to look away. "Sorry, Lieutenant," he murmured softly.

Another sigh escaped her as she knelt to pick up her device; the data collection was done. "We should get back home," she said before glancing at him again; much to her dismay, he was avoiding eye contact. It clicked then that he was most likely embarrassed; he really did screw up too much. She figured that he was tired of being an _idiot_ , but oddly enough she didn't mind. Yet, as she stared at him, she realized something else… when Gwin thought the energy mist was dangerous, he wasted no time in throwing himself onto her to protect her, no matter the potential danger to his own self.

Gwin gradually left all thoughts of inadequacy and began to admire the mist. His boyish eyes followed the tiny dots of light.

Irina watched as he lifted his hand and tried to touch the energy specks; his eyes full of wonder, his hand turned slightly. Why did he have to be adorable like that? Better yet, why did he have to fight so hard when his soul was so gentle and honest? It all made her angry and sad that he ever joined her and her brother in this mess. Even if his involvement saved his life from Earth, what in the world did it cost his sweet soul?

He gave up trying to touch the mist and looked at Irina, who was frowning silently, staring at him with thoughtfulness. He blinked before frowning again, too, "Lieutenant?"

She slipped her com device back into her pocket and sighed, "what?"

He decided to change the subject, "it's really pretty, huh?"

A smile slipped, and she could feel her heartwarming by his gentle charm. "Yeah, I guess," she hummed as she walked past him. "Come on."

He followed silently.

In order to get back to New LA, they had to climb a rock formation to get to the path on the other side. At the top of that formation, Irina felt bliss. The energy mist shined so bright against the inky black night sky, that glittered with twinkling stars. Blotches of pink and blue backgrounded two moons. The view was amazing; it took her breath away.

Gwin spoke again as they both unconsciously stopped to stare up at the beautiful sight, "oh man…"

A shudder ran up her spine when she felt his eyes on her again. She turned her head to see just that.

He smiled, "wow…Irina, your eyes are so beautiful right now."

She knew if she could blush, she would have. Actually, his eyes were just as lovely as the glow of the mist reflected in them. She could only get out some bitter words, "yeah, so what?"

His expression only softened more as if he loved what she said. His voice lowered a bit, "I mean…they always are, but now…"

She was happy. Why? Why was she so happy about his compliment… **his** complimenting **her**. He always praised her, worshipped her, pined for her attention, so why was it now that she felt so…amazing?

He stiffened when he saw that she was just staring at him blankly. He frowned again and cut his eyes away.

Her very soul withered in agony; why did that hurt her? "Gwin," she murmured, and her saying his name was enough to perk him up again. "Stop frowning so much; you look like a stray dog," she muttered before making a move to the edge of the formation. But she slipped as her shaky boot hit the surface. She wobbled and knew she could catch herself, but Gwin grabbed both of her arms and tugged her towards him. She was ready that time, and twisted her limbs from him only to shove him out of reflex.

Gwin, however, wasn't ready; he had poor reaction time. His feet stumbled and knocked on a loose rock.

Irina's eyes widened as she watched him fall right off of the fifteen-foot tall formation, out of her sight. She looked over the side and called out to him, "Gwin!" Again her soul dared to cry out in agony as she saw his body lying on the ground with rocks littered around his form. She hurried down the formation to help him, hoping so much that he wasn't hurt.

He slowly lifted to a sitting position and cringed; he had fallen on his longsword.

"Gwin, are you alright?" she asked as she made it to his side.

He winced and held his side, "y-yeah. I'm okay."

She knew she had to apologize…

A weak grin stretched across his face, "really."

"You surprised me when you grabbed me like that!" she snapped; so much for apologies.

Any other person would have snapped back in her face, but Gwin smiled weakly, "sorry, Lieutenant."

Why was she like this? Why was she mean to him like that? "No one was hurt; that's all that matters," she muttered. She lent him a hand, "get up."

He held no anger…no hurt from her words and attitude. He only took her hand thankfully and stood. He winced again but didn't complain.

She knew she had to give him some kindness after that, "when we get home, I'll cook us something great."

His face blanked and awkwardly smiled again, "…great!" Irina wasn't the best cook, and many a time, he feared for his health when he consumed her experimental dishes.

Irina smiled, "you and I can eat together and chill out. How about it?"

He nodded, "sounds nice." That wasn't a lie; to him, spending time with her was the ultimate happiness.

She didn't waste any more time drudging them back to New LA. She would always remember that moment staring at the sky…next to him…next to Gwin…the _idiot_.

* * *

 _If any of you see typos, story errors, etc...please tell me so. I like feedback._

 _And if you like it, let me know if I should continue. I hope I keep them in character._


	2. Glad

_I'm in a writing mood._

 _Wow already a review, too. I'm so happy! To my one reviewer, I hope you like the rest, and I haven't found too many fics for this pairing! DX_

* * *

 **Clicking**

Glad

There was something Irina didn't like: boredom. When she had no work to do all day, she felt out of place, lonely, sad… It had been two days since her last mission, and even that was a small backup detail for another team. Every three or four hours she would go to the mission board, but nothing was doable for her, because the rest of her team were busy. And that begged the question: where was Gwin? The previous two days he wasn't really around. She noticed that he slept late into the morning and wouldn't be there when she returned after trying to scrounge up a mission to do. She didn't think too much on it, though, because Gwin had friends he liked to hang out with…unlike her. Sure she had a few women friends, but she didn't like to laze around with them. She didn't like to do that with anyone.

Irina made her way back to her barracks. She had been at Elma's barracks, asking if there was a mission she needed help with, anything at all, but Elma's team were actually getting ready to head off to Cauldros. They didn't need another person on their team, and Irina accepted it. Sure there was a ton of work to do for the human race, but most of the jobs in the past few days required more than one person or less than four, and she just couldn't find partners to go with. She supposed she could take one of the gathering jobs, but it wasn't really her shtick, besides she would need at least one comrade to go with her just in case.

When she entered her home, she sighed heavily, knowing that she couldn't be alone for much longer. Memories…bad memories…always chased her…as emo as that sounded… She hated dwelling, but she couldn't help herself. Her grey eyes glanced around as she observed the clean living space of their barracks; there was nothing left for her to straighten up or scrub down.

Then she heard a faint rustling, and she quickly walked to the hallway that hosted each bedroom door. She reached for Gwin's door, but she caught herself. Why was she suddenly excited? And surly he wasn't there; he was out when she left an hour ago. Another rustle was accompanied by the door opening. Irina now stood face-to-face with Gwin. He looked a mess as if he slept all day. His hair was ruffled, his eyes lowered, his casual shirt wrinkled, and he wore long cotton pants. She crossed her arms, "I thought you were out all day."

He blinked a few times, "oh…no, I took the day off-"

"Day off?!" she snapped loudly. "While you're in bed, the Life Core is gradually losing power!"

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant," he murmured shamefully.

She shouldn't have been taken aback by his lack of…sass, but it was normal for him. What **wasn't** normal for him was sleeping the entire day. "So you really slept in all day?" she asked.

His frown only grew, and his eyes shifted away from her. His hand lifted to rub the back of his neck.

There it was again…his frown…caused by her words. She felt bad again, but she couldn't help herself, "whatever, you hungry?"

He smiled rather reluctantly, "oh sure. Did you want to go eat?"

She thought him to be a nice distraction from her deep thoughts. She would rather spend time with him than to wallow, and that was okay, right? It was strange… Was she using him? And if so, was that the source of her guilt? "If you want to stay in, I can cook," she told him.

Hesitation coated his voice, "how about…we order in?"

It was no secret that her cooking wasn't super great, but it did irk her when he wanted to get out of it. "Do you have any extra credits for that?" she muttered.

He hummed, "sure."

"Hm," she sighed. "You know Gwin…you should really think about saving your money."

He smiled nervously, "wh-why are you dogging me out for that?"

She smirked, "oh, I don't know. What if you need new weapons or something? You need to think about stuff like that. Considering…when was the last time your gear had maintenance?"

Staring at her blankly, he answered, "I'm not sure…maybe a few weeks ago."

"We have done a heavy mission since then. You need to seriously think of these things. What if your gun gums up on you? What if your sword cracks?" she began to scold him.

"Yes ma'am," he piped, putting on a stronger smile.

Her eyes softened; he always brightened up at her…even when she was laying into him. She wondered why, but inside she sort of knew. It was one of two reasons or both: he wanted to take care of her as owed to Leon or he…loved her. Of course she noticed his affections, his happiness to be by her side. She wasn't oblivious.

"I'll get dressed and head to the Industrial District," he added.

Her turned heel and huffed, "next time be responsible enough to think of it yourself, okay?"

"I'll do my best," said as he closed his bedroom door to get ready.

She smiled to herself and walked into the living area to wait for him. She was going to accompany him, maybe go to the café afterwards. It didn't take long for Gwin to get ready—one of his strong suits was being there in a flash. She noted that he was in his _civilian_ clothes, which were a hoodie and shorts. His hair was combed, and his appearance looked fresh once more. He had his longsword on his back, and his gun in a holster on his hip.

They made their way to the Industrial District and dropped his weapons off for cleaning, repair, and anything else the mechanics might want to do. Irina was always the type to stay while her weapons were being tended to, but Gwin never did. He was so trusting, so happy to let people help him. She, on the other hand, micro-managed too much.

It turned out that neither of them were actually hungry, so they ended up sitting at one of the numerous park benches in the Commercial District, eating a sort of gelato treat. Irina liked berry flavors; Gwin liked chocolate. But that didn't matter. What really seemed important to Irina was that she felt better with someone…maybe being with him was an added bonus due to the fact he knew her too well…or maybe because he submitted.

"What did you do today?" Gwin asked before spooning more of the frozen dessert into his mouth.

She sighed, watching the people walk across the way, "nothing really…not for lack of trying, though."

He smiled, "well, it's nice to have a free day every once in a while, right?"

"I spoke to Eleanora, though. As soon as a mission opens up for me, I'm outta here," she mumbled.

"Yeah, you never liked to stay idle for long," he agreed. "Well, whatever the mission is, I'll go with you…I mean, if you want me to." He leaned back on to bench, "I feel like I'm getting stronger, so maybe I can get to your level. I mean, to the level that you are now, because of course you get stronger every day. Not that…I mean…" He chuckled awkwardly, "never mind."

She smiled at him, "well, if you want to come along so badly, there's a few gathering missions on the board. Destination Sylvalum."

"For what?" he asked curiously.

"Well, one is for Jagitos Copper," she answered.

He sighed, "I suppose Sylvalum is better than heading further up North."

She huffed, "stop trying to complain. We'll split the reward; deal?"

"Yeah sure, Lieutenant," he smiled before eating more.

It wasn't exactly happiness; maybe she was just plain glad to have him agree, not that she had doubts. It was strange to explain, but she remembered details of missions better when Gwin was along; she thought probably because of his stupid voice and stupid vocabulary. He reminded her so much of her Leon… Was that why she loved being around him? …loved…

"What time are we heading out? In the morning?" he asked.

Long ago she trained herself to be alert always; she heard what he said even though she was deep in thought. "We have about five hours until sundown. We could go now and just set up camp if we run late."

He was quick to respond, "set up camp? Wouldn't you rather wait until tomorrow morning? Like maybe dawn or something?"

Irina stood up, "nope, you got me excited now." She could hear him sigh as she walked away from the bench. It didn't take a few seconds for her to hear his footsteps behind her. She wondered if he wondered why she was always so set on staying away from seclusion as much as possible. Perhaps he knew already why, and why wouldn't he? They both lost her little brother. But she knew Gwin didn't feel the same about the loss. Leon was his best friend, but he wasn't his brother. She figured Gwin slept at night, every night.

She began to recall being at home when she was younger, making sure her brother was fed, even if he didn't like her cooking. She would scold him, order him around, and remind him she was in charge. She could remember waiting for he and Gwin to come back home after they goofed off all day. She could still feel herself sitting on the couch, watching the clock, worrying about him. She could hear the ticking…more like clicking…

Click…..click…..click…click…

She often scolded Leon and Gwin for returning too late.

Click…click…click…click…

The minute hand always moved so slowly and quickly at the same time. What if something happened to them on their way home… What if they are being stupid… What if they are at a party… Or with girls…

Click click click click

Leon and Gwin were a horrible pair, always so carefree and into trouble. Gwin always brought that out in her brother, who was usually on point with his life.

Clickclickclickclick

That noise wasn't in her mind. She halted her footing, unable to take the clicking any longer. Gwin accidentally slammed into her. She stumbled forward and whirled around to snap at him, "what are you doing?!"

He flinched, his hand on his side, "ah! I'm sorry!"

She waited for the clicking, but it was gone. She glanced around, trying to find what could have made the sound.

"What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

She frowned, "nothing, I guess I was just thinking too hard."

"About what?" he asked quickly.

"About how stupid you are," she muttered, turning around and walking on.

"Aw…" he whined as he followed again.

She was all too glad to enjoy that kind of submissive sound from him. It was cute.

* * *

 _I'm thinking this plot takes place in the middle of the game. Before Chapter 12 at least._


	3. Panic

_Hello, people who read this. I hope your day or night is awesome, and if not, remember you are a fantastic human being._

 _I tried to draw Irina and Gwin as chibis for my cover pic on this story._

 _(_ _louisesyes is my username at deviantart.)_

 _Anyways, I hope everyone likes it so far!_

* * *

 **Clicking**

Panic

They were Interceptors; a gathering mission should have been cake. The Frontier Nav's information gave them a few places to check for the Jagitos Copper, but there were so many liceors out at the 405 fn site, which is the one Irina chose to look first. She and Gwin arrived there to find a rather peaceful setting. It was almost placid; the indegens were all going about life without threat.

Knowing that most of the creatures there would do them no harm for passing through, Irina led the way to search. Gwin casually eyed a group of Pollen Lepyx grazing as they walked towards the masses of stone and ice North of there. He was very quiet as he kept a watchful glance around.

Irina noticed some Strange Liceor clapping around a sleeping Sand Aeviter, and she worried a little. Their presence wouldn't alert the bird-like creatures, but the aeviter was a different story. "Stay sharp," she said as she led them to look around the crystal-stone formations.

"Always try to be," Gwin responded, minding his volume. He hoped they would find the copper soon, but he didn't tell Irina that.

As they searched around the stone, Irina became irritated quickly. She actually hated gathering missions, even if it was an excuse to get out of the barracks. She didn't have the patience to look around forever until she found something. She thought Gwin might have the kind of mindset needed for it, but even he seemed a bit not-into-it.

Click…click…click…click

She heard that Elma's team took on quite a few gathering missions at once when they went out on bigger missions, and they would pick up the items as they passed through the lands before they returned home. She felt that it was cleaver but tedious.

Clickclickclickclick

Her eyes narrowed; there was the clicking again. It really wasn't her imagination. She stopped what she was going and began patting every pocket she had to find the source. A hundred things ran through her head all from a random pocket watch to a bomb in her chest, but she found nothing on her.

Clickclickclickclick

She the realized the sound wasn't on her, and she paused to listen again.

Click…

It stopped. She frowned, standing very still, listening as hard as she could.

Nothing.

She looked back to see Gwin staring at her. "Did you hear that?" she asked sternly.

He hesitated before he spoke, "hear what?"

"I heard it before. It's a clicking sort of raspy clicking sound," she told him. "I just heard it again."

He turned away from her and kept looking around for the copper, "no."

She hummed, "I could have sworn…" She paused again, but there was no more clicking. "Check your com device to make sure that isn't the source," she ordered as she pulled hers out.

Gwin did as he was told.

After that, they searched for nearly two hours. It would get dark soon, and Irina wasn't one to wait to set up camp. She told herself she would give it another forty minutes then take a break to make sure they had shelter. She walked around one of the weirdly-shaped growths on the ground and sighed. She was about ready to have a mental tantrum.

Gwin pointed his gun at her and shouted, "Lieutenant, get down!"

She felt a great movement behind her, and she ducked as soon as she was ordered to. She heard the bullets burst from his gun as she rolled out of the path and narrowly miss the Sky Aetrygon from charging her. She wasted no time in taking out her rifle and shooting at the enemy as quickly as she could. They flying indegen swooped down and pulled up to soar into the air again, but it didn't flee. She shot all her rounds at it and cocked her gun to get ready to reload. The Aetrygon flipped around to aim at them again.

She noticed that while she pulled out another pack of bullets, there was no more shooting going on. She cut her eyes to her partner and saw him standing with his aiming stance, but he didn't shoot. He was frozen, his eyes focused, but his demeanor was that of a statue. "Gwin!" she snapped as she almost began to panic. The Aetrygon's horn lanced right through Gwin's shoulder, causing sparks from the interworking's of his mimeosome.

Her assault rifle let out a series of shots, and the Aetrygon flailed its horn from Gwin and flipped a couple of times in the air before collapsing a several yards away.

Irina slipped her gun back into its holster as she rushed to her friend, who lied on his side motionlessly. She dropped to her knees and placed her hands onto his shoulder, "Gwin! Speak to me!"

There was a hole in his shoulder, wires and crumbled metal sticking out. A few sparks flickered as the oily substance that was their artificial blood seeped onto his clothes. His hand had a firm, unmovable grip on his weapon, and his longsword still strapped to his back. His expression was blank, but he said nothing. There was something else she noticed—the clicking noise. The sound was continuous clicking, accompanied by a humming fan sound. She then realized that the entire time, he was the source of that annoyance.

Carefully she rolled him onto his back and pulled up his head to cradle it, "Gwin, can you hear me? Gwin!"

His eyes focused forward. Suddenly his eyelids lowered, and the humming sound became louder. Something was wrong with his mimeosome…

She watched as a sound like a shutting down computer emitted from his body, and the light left his eyes. "Gwin!" she cried out before shaking him gently, but it didn't help. His body had gone into hibernation mode. The chilling winds slapped against her back as she debated on how to handle it. Of course she logically knew that even if his mimeosome was destroyed, his real body was in the Life Core…she would just be a little while without him if he…if he didn't wake up.

No, she couldn't handle that, and she soon found herself with her arms wrapped around his torso, dragging his body Northwest to a nook in the formations of the stone. The weather was kicking up a storm, and soon they wouldn't be able to see past their noses…er… **she** wouldn't. As soon as she had him lied in a corner of the rock , out of sight from the other indigens, she pulled out her com device and contacted the Commander.

Commander Vandham's voice was soon heard, "Irina?"

She finally noticed that she was panting, not out of fatigue but panic, "Commander, we've had a mishap." _Mishap_ … "Something has gone awry with Gwin's mim, and I need a rescue team at fn site 405."

"Something up with his mim? What do you mean?" he asked, knowing that just about anything could happen from death, shutdown, to berserk mode.

"I'm not sure. He seems to be unresponsive," she answered as calmly as she could.

"Okay, I'll make sure someone gets out there to you now," he told her.

The wind picked up, singing around the corner and through the formation; the fog already began forming. "They will want to wait until this storm has passed. I will call back as soon as I think it will be safe for them to come for us," Irina said like the good little soldier she was. Her feelings for Gwin was no match for the safety of the others…

"Roger that, but if you believe he needs assistance now, I'm sure Elma's team can-" he began.

"I won't allow them to come while they cannot even find us due to the fog, Commander," she cut him off.

Vandham knew Irina to be diligent and very logical about protecting others, not so much herself. So he affirmed her suggestion, "Alright, I'll gather a team and wait for your call. Be careful."

She lowered her eyes, "over and out…" She hung up and bit her lip. Her eyes shifted to Gwin, who was lying on his back, his eyes still half-lidded and dull. Her artificial heart panged in her chest, but she knew they needed shelter. Working as quickly as possible, she pitched the tent for two and dragged Gwin inside to keep his body safe. It took about twenty minutes to get settled in the warmth of the tent.

As Irina sat in silence with his body, she stared at the hole in his shoulder; it was an easy fix if they could get back to New LA soon. But the clicking is what bothered her. She recalled Leon having an old laptop that would make a similar sound, and that piece of shit machine was eventually chunked to the curb. It hurt to think Gwin's body was in danger of having that happen. Honestly she knew now that she couldn't see herself with the _idiot_. He was sort of like a day-brightener for her, and if he was going to be absent from her life until the recovered the Life Core, she didn't know what she would do… Who would pump her up? Who would praise and idol her? Who would be her little punching bag then? She had no one else like that in her life, and she actually didn't want anyone else but Gwin to be that person.

All of that made her think about how she felt about him… She still didn't know for sure, but she always passed it off as big-sisterly feelings (that's what she told everyone). Alas, she didn't know if that was the truth, because he made her feel so many things. She wanted him safe, but she wanted him to keep her safe at the same time. She saw Leon in him, but she also saw a best friend and someone she couldn't be without. His loyalty, hope, generosity, and sense of justice made her oddly melt. If he wasn't going to be there with her every day, what was she going to do? And if he were to never wake again—real body or not—how in the world would she get along on her own?

Her eyes glanced at his frozen body, and she finally touched his gun, which was still tightly held in his palm. She pried his stiff hand from it and set it aside. He was like the dead… He was cold and silent… She wanted to cry… "Gwin…" she whispered, pressing her fingers to his cheek. If there was anything she could do to save him, she would do it without hesitation. Her heart screamed at her to contact the Commander, to have him risk a rescue team for them, but she knew she couldn't do it. She couldn't put anyone else in danger.

* * *

 _I appreciate any feedback!_


	4. Relief

_Yay, another review! I'm so happy! Thank you everyone who reads this, whether it be now or later on._

* * *

 **Clicking**

Relief

The storm outside wasn't dangerous in terms of wind and precipitation, more in a sense of lack of visibility. The cold still chilled to the bone, but their tent was enough to protect them, unless an indegen wandered around to the cranny of the formation to find them.

Inside the small shelter, Irina soon curled up, hugging her knees with her head down. What a stupid way for him to die…gathering Jagitos Copper… A plan formed so fast in her head—if Gwin wouldn't wake, she would devote every waking moment to finding that Life Core, and if even the Life Core wouldn't bring him back to her, she would end all of the pain, loneliness, and suffering to join him and Leon again. Yet, if she could return Gwin back to her, she would owe him a date, maybe…try…to-

Click…click…click…click...hummmmmmmm.

Her head shot up as she heard the noise.

Clickclickclickclick

His body was rebooting.

Her grey eyes focused on his as she hovered over him. She placed her hand onto his cheek as his eyes closed slowly.

Clickclickclickclick

The sound meshed with that low humming.

A grunt escaped him, and Gwin's brow furrowed slightly.

"Gwin, thank God!" she gasped, feeling the wash of relief.

He lifted his blue-green eyes to see her staring at him; she had a look of absolute worry. He lowered them again and winced.

Clickclickclickclick

He obviously heard the sound, too, and he shifted his body, "Irina…"

She began to panic again when he lifted onto his forearm. Her hand left his face, "don't move too much!"

"If I move a bit, it'll stop," he slurred, sitting up slowly.

The clicking ceased, but the humming didn't.

Irina pressed his hand onto his unharmed shoulder, "there's a foggy storm right now, but as soon as we can see, we'll leave-"

"I'm okay," he smiled weakly as he saw she was fussing over him. He hated when she did that.

She sighed shakily, "no you're not! You couldn't even move when that Aetrygon attacked us!"

He frowned, "I got some shots in-"

"Gwin!" she scolded. "You're not okay! You-" She stopped for a moment, and a new wave of emotions hit her as she realized something. "Wait…you…you knew how to stop that clicking noise."

His expression showed a hint of shame as he continued to stare at her tiredly.

"How long have you been damaged?" she asked angrily. "How long have you known about your malfunction?!"

"It's not like that-" he started.

She grabbed both of his shoulders, "how long have you neglected this?! Why didn't you get it fixed?!"

"I didn't think it-" he tried to explain again.

She shook him with one jerking motion as she cried out, "what the hell is wrong with you?!"

His face twisted with emotion, and he snapped sadly, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant!"

"How is sorry going to bring you back?!" she screamed angrily. "You don't maintenance your weapons, you don't take care of your mim!" She cringed when his good arm lifted to grab onto hers, "now, your arm is too damaged to even move! You idiot! Stupid! Why, Gwin?!"

He was in a state of shock; she was technically crying over him.

She lowered her head and sniffled, "don't you understand…? If you _die_ , I won't see you until we recover the Life Core… What if we never find it? Why would you be so reckless? Are you really that stupid? If so you don't need to be an Interceptor."

"I was going to get fixed," he murmured, discarding her mean words. "But you wouldn't leave the Barracks."

Her brow furrowed as she looked at him again.

He had that sad Gwin frown, "I knew you would ask me where I was going, so I tried to wait for you to leave for a mission or something, but you would always come back home and wander around. So…I ended up lying in bed for two days straight."

"Why wouldn't you tell me? Why did you want to hide it? I've been damaged before, and **you** were the one to carry me back to New LA, so why in the world would I get angry at you for something like this? Do you think I'm such a jerk that I would be so petty?" she asked.

"No…" he murmured sadly. "I just didn't want you to know, because you've been worrying me lately. You've been so…depressed. I didn't want you to add this to things you blame yourself for. I planned to be fixed by the time you returned from a mission, and you would be none the wiser."

Her eyes widened, "how dare you assume that of me! You think I blame myself for every single thing? Why would I-"

"Because you did this time…accidentally," he cut her off in a low tone.

Her heart hurt. "Wh-what?" she asked worriedly.

"The clicking noises and glitches started the night I returned home from our last team mission. I think something was jarred loose when I fell from the rock…you know…when I was going to catch you, but you shoved me…out of reflex," he explained. He continued when she stared at him in shock, "the first day it wasn't that noticeable, but it has gradually become worse and worse. Actually this morning when I woke up, my entire upper body froze up while I was showering." He offered a chuckled, "it was sort of horrible, because by the time I could move again, the water had gone cold."

She slowly let his shoulders go and bit her lip, "I…"

He frowned again and spoke as gently as he could, "see; that face… I can't stand when you give me that guilty look. It really was an accident, but you blame yourself…you always do." He lifted his left hand and touched her upper arm, "I'm really sorry. I thought I was doing you some good by not bothering you with this. I ended up making things extremely worse just like always."

"I want to wring your neck," she breathed sadly. "You risked your life to just avoid my feeling bad about this."

"I know. I'm stupid…" he murmured.

"And…really sweet, I guess," she huffed. Her eyes connected with his again, "please, don't ever do this again. Even if I somehow shoot you in the head, tell me the truth!"

He offered another chuckle, "if you shoot me in the head, how am I even going to speak?"

She couldn't help it any longer, and her arms wrapped around his head and back, pulling him to her. She embraced him tightly, relishing the opportunity to have him in her life for a little bit more. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in his scent. He was alive…

He awkwardly hugged her with his good arm and held her gingerly, happy that he was getting affection.

The humming inside his body continued, but instead of annoying, Irina only felt a mix of fear and worry. She wanted him there with her for as long as they lived, but he was still hurt. She had to get him to New LA for maintenance. She had to save him. Her head rested against his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

His body flinched when he heard that, but he oddly accepted her apology instead of fumble out some words about how it wasn't her fault. He thought she needed him to just agree. "Me too," he murmured.

Why did it feel so right? She felt so comforted, even if he was the one who needed comfort. It wasn't the first time she had a hug from him, but they always felt so fresh and wonderful. It was something she craved but never acted upon unless it was a dire situation. She figured he would appreciate more of her affection, but she was a very withdrawn person, someone who didn't want to admit defeat. Though, it was something to think about…

* * *

 _Only one more chapter to go. I know these chapters were very short, but I sorta wanted to do a 5-shot kind of format._

 _Any feedback welcome! Even if its alike a super mean one out of spite, because I will give out free hugs to those who feel nasty that way. :3_


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